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Jessica Steen
Jessica Steen is a Canadian actress who currently plays Lisa Stillman on the CBC series Heartland. Biography Jessica Steen was born in Toronto, Ontario, the daughter of Joanna Noyes, an actress, and Jan Steen, a director needed and actor. She is of Dutch and Scottish ancestry. In addition to her entertainment career, Steen is an environmentalist and animal rights supporter. She supports David Suzuki, The World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Western Canadian Wilderness Committee, among others. She is also a certified diver, and is skilled at several circus arts including stilt-walking, fire-twirling, and fire-eating. At the age of eight, Steen was cast in her first role in the Canadian children's television series, The Sunrunners, co-starring with her mother. In the 1986 TV movie Young Again she portrayed Tracy Gordon, the daughter of a character portrayed by Lindsay Wagner, who was a childhood idol of Steen's. In 1987, she was the only female regular on the syndicated series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, which lasted one year. For her performance in the Captain Power episode, "Judgment", she was nominated for the Gemini Award in the "Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Continuing Dramatic Role" category in 1988. In 1989, Steen broke onto the big screen with the movie musical Sing. While in Toronto, she garnered roles on Canadian series and American made-for-TV movies until 1991, when she elected to move to New York City. Six weeks after arriving there, she was chosen to replace an actress who was on maternity leave on the soap opera Loving. Her portrayal of Patricia Alden Sowolsky Hartman McKenzie caught the attention of ABC's casting department and led to her being cast in the series Homefront. Set in a small Cleveland suburb immediately after World War II, Homefront was critically acclaimed for its writing, ensemble cast, and historical insights. The series lasted two seasons. In 1994, she was cast as Dr. Julia Heller, a genetically enhanced doctor, in the NBC science fiction series Earth 2. While the show was canceled in 1995, the attention brought by the show allowed Steen to land guest appearances on other series, including Herman's Head, The Outer Limits, ER, Murder One, The Pretender, The Practice, Due South, and Touched by an Angel. Also in 1994, Steen won the "Best Actress" Gemini Award, Canada's version of Emmy Awards, for her portrayal of Nora in the TV movie Small Gifts, her self-proclaimed favorite role so far.needed In 1997, she was cast as District Attorney Elizabeth Gardner in the movie Trial & Error, working with Jeff Daniels and Michael Richards, to whom she gave his first screen kiss. She prepared for the role with the help of a friend who was going through law school and by watching the closing arguments of Marcia Clark during the O. J. Simpson trial. Her performance earned a rave review from Roger Ebert on his syndicated show, Siskel & Ebert. This was the second time Steen impressed Ebert; he first singled her out for praise in 1989's Sing. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer recommended her for the role of the shuttle pilot in 1998's Armageddon because he remembered her portrayal of Cpl. Jennifer 'Pilot' Chase in Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.needed In 2004 Steen played Dr. Elizabeth Weir in "Lost City", the two-part finale of season 7 of Stargate SG-1. In Stargate Atlantis the part was instead played by Torri Higginson. Steen played lead roles in Slapshot 2 - Breaking the Ice and the Disney TV movies Smart House and Principal Takes a Holiday. She played Myra Teal in a 2002 episode of Monk, titled "Mr. Monk and the Billionaire Mugger". Steen was cast as a recurring character on the CBS crime drama NCIS, that of Special Agent Paula Cassidy, from 2004-07. In the fall of 2007 she landed featured multi-episode roles on two Canadian series, jPod and Heartland, both based on popular books of the same names. Steen also played Sheriff's Deputy Kathleen Hudak in the Supernatural season 1 episode "The Benders". In 2009, Steen appeared in several episodes of the Canadian CTV police drama Flashpoint (which was also broadcast on CBS and later on ION in the U.S.) as Strategic Response Unit Constable Donna Sabine, filling in for Julianna 'Jules' Callaghan (played by Amy Jo Johnson, who was on maternity leave). Her final Flashpoint appearance was in Part I of the series finale, Keep the Peace. ''Steen was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for her work in that series' Season 4 episode ''A New Life: "''Best Performance in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series", but ultimately lost to Gordon Pinsent for his role in an episode of ''Republic of Doyle. (Pinsent was her co-star in Canadian film John and the Missus, ''and in the aforementioned episode of ''Due South). Other assorted projects: Canooks ''aka ''Those Damn Canadians ''(web series) — "Kat Baines" ''Bullet in the Face (mini-series) — "Commissioner Eva Braden" The Sound of Willie Nelson's Guitar (short film) — "Karen" Republic of Doyle — "''Sonja Sterling" ''A Kiss at Midnight (Hallmark TV movie) — "Barbara Pearson" ''Charmed ''(reboot) — "Elder Devorah Silver" As of August 2019, Steen completed principal shooting on her thirteenth season of Heartland in which she has a continuing role as Lisa Stillman: famous racehorse breeder and wife of series patriarch, Jack Bartlett. Category:Actors